The Orinda Hiking Club was founded in 1990 by Anne Diller, Bill King, Dobie Jenkins, Nancy Meagher and Philae Carver. They were all members of the Trail Council of Orinda, and met to organize the Orinda Hiking Club as a section of the Trail Council. Other members of the Trail Council were not interested in hiking with a group. The Council oversaw groups interested in horse back riding, running, bicycling and walking, but not hiking.

At the first organizational meeting of the Club, which was held at a Trail Council member’s home, the Club was formed and various guidelines and policies were established, many of them being suggested by Bill King who was an experienced hike leader with the Sierra Club and the Berkeley Hiking Club. It was Ann who introduced refreshments to the club and introduced the idea of printing club T-shirts.

The first hike was in the Homestead Valley of Briones Regional Park on April 7, 1990 and was led by Dobie Jenkins. There were five people on the hike; Dobie Jenkins, Ann Jenkins, Anne Diller, Bill King and Ron Van Dette. From then on hikes were held every month.

In the early days of the Club Ann Diller underwrote all the expenses and, after the first few hikes, Ron Van Dette kept track of the Club’s membership. The first group meeting of hikers, after members started hiking, was held in June at the home of Anne Diller and Bill King.

The Club’s second hike was in Mt. Diablo State Park on May 5th, from Mitchell Canyon to Eagle Peak. It was led by Bill King. There were eight hikers on this hike, one of whom was Ron Brown. (In subsequent months Ron’s knowledge of hiking trails in the San Francisco Bay Area greatly expanded the Club’s hiking horizons). The next hike was at Pt. Reyes on June 2nd, from Bear Valley to Arch Rock. This hike had 14 hikers, one of whom was Louise Rowland. Current members who joined the club in 1990 included Cynthia Landy whose first hike was on August 4th, Karin Cohn on October 6th, Ken Doty on November 3rd, Nancy Crevin and Connie Doty on December 1st and Annette Rost and Mary Stephens in January 1991. From this time on the number of hikers continued to grow.

As the Club grew, and more and more members hiked on the one hike each month, it became evident that there would have to be two hikes a month to even out the number of members on each hike. Then, as the Club grew even more, it was necessary to increase the number of hikes to four a month until we now have eight to ten hikes a month. These numbers include Wednesday hikes and Thursday strolls.

In addition to the day hikes we now also offer extended hikes in the USA and overseas, but this is another story.

This Club is a purely volunteer club, and its success would not be possible if it were not for the countless hours that so many members contribute to its management and operation.